A.Word.A.Day

A.Word.A.Day--cabana

This week's theme: words borrowed from Spanish.

cabana (kuh-BAHN-uh) noun

1. A shelter on a beach or swimming pool.

2. A cabin or cottage.

[From Spanish cabaña, from Late Latin capanna (hut).]

Would it surprise you to know that cabin and cabinet are related? Or that
basin and basinet/bassinet are? The diminutive suffix -et doesn't only
convey the sense of smallness, it can change the whole meaning. Consider
table and tablet, for another example.

"Calvin Klein is redecorating the cabana area of the lounge with
furnishings like wall decorations featuring a new Klein logo and
photographs of models wearing Klein clothes."
Allison Fass; GQ Steps Out of Its Pages And Opens a Lounge;
The New York Times; Feb 15, 2002.

X-Bonus

What religion a man shall have is a historical accident, quite as much as
what language he shall speak. -George Santayana, philosopher (1863-1952)